Jake Jason Gyllenhaal Bourne?

Rumour has it that Jake Gyllenhaal is in talks to join the Bourne Franchise. Now this is a silly idea for a couple of reasons.

First of all, I really do not buy the idea of continuing the Bourne franchise. The first one, The Bourne identity, directed by Doug Liman, was flawed but did its job of setting up the story. But it really is Paul Greengrass who took the franchise to some new heights. With its mixture of smart script, frenetic action and fast editing, The Bourne Legacy to me was the best of the three and set a benchmark for intelligent action movies, at a time when the Bond franchise was still in limbo. 

I found the third one, the Bourne Supremacy, to be a bit of a letdown. There were some impressive action scenes, especially a memorable chase scene over the roof of Tangiers, but as a conclusion to such a thrilling serie, the story was somehow lacking the complexities of the second one.

But at least it was all neatly tied up and put to rest. Now I really cannot see where the franchise will go from there. It seems that the producers are eying the kind of longevity that James Bond has earned. The difference is the Jason Bourne and his backstory was an integral part of what drove the narrative, whereas James Bond, while being the main characters, just jumps out from storyline to storyline (although interestingly the Daniel Craig Bond films seemed to copy the revenge theme from Bourne).

So where would it go from here? It is said that whoever gets the part would not actually play Jason Bourne but a similar character, but then what's the point? It would be a spin off with precious little to link it to Bourne then. 

And then as much as I love Jake Gyllenhaal, I just cannot see how he can make us all forget Matt Damon. He's good for quirky US indie films, for comedies, for dramas, but action? He was believable enough as an lead in action hero in Prince of Persia, adding his charm and goofiness to the part, but as a flawless, stealthy killing machine? I just can't see it!

.